photo info & gear — Michael Jacobi

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GEAR: Images were captured with either a Nikon D500 or D7100 body. As of 2018, I use the D500 exclusively for all photography. I use a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 1:1 macro lens for reptiles and arachnids (with Raynox DCR250 2.5X magnifier attached for “super-macrophotography”). Natural light, an Nikon SB900 speedlight diffused with either an MK Diffuser 2.0, an Alex Goh Macro Diffuser, an F-Stoppers FlashDisc or several types of softbox are all used. (UPDATE AUGUST 2020: For macrophotography I am now using the MK Diffuser 2.0 made by Marcus Kam almost exclusively). Some older photos used a Sigma EM-140 ring flash, which is more durable for trail hiking, but I no longer use ring flash. At night a Generay LED light attached to the camera body’s tripod mount illuminates the subject for focusing.

I typically shoot small creatures in aperture priority with f/18 being the most common aperture. For birds and mammals, etc., I have used either a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8, Nikon 300mm f/4 with or without 1.4x teleconverter (2017 images), or a Sigma "Contemporary" 150-600mm f/5-6.3 or Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6 (2018 images), usually in full manual adjusting for zoom length or aperture priority. I currently use the Nikon f5.6 200-500mm for a long lens. Beginning in autumn 2018 I will be trying my hand at landscape and night photography using a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DXII, and I have a Nikon 35mm f/1.8 that I sometimes use for portraits or street. In 2019, I added a Nikon 24-120mm f/4 and often use this for wide angle images of reptiles. I shoot RAW and post-process in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC. Logo watermark was created in Adobe Illustrator and is applied during Lightroom export. Adobe Photoshop is used primarily to add the infographics seen on some images or occasionally to remove spots or distracting features. I am have only dabbled in focus stacking and my macros are single exposure. I have used Topaz Sharpen for some long lens bird photos.

All images are © Michael A. Jacobi and all rights are reserved.

F-Stoppers diffuser for photographing snakes.

Macrophotography with Alex Goh diffuser

MK Diffuser 2.0

F-Stoppers diffuser for photographing snakes.Photographing the head of a Black-tailed Rattlesnake held in a restraining tube by Dr. Wolfgang Wüster.

Macrophotography with Alex Goh diffuserOn an Indiana trail photographing an insect using the Alex Goh diffuser.

MK Diffuser 2.0

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